Ing. Tomáš Drábek, Ph.D.

The acoustic noise level in the interior is one of the quantities specified by a standard and is subject to audits to ensure a comfortable living environment. Currently, the noise level audits are performed manually by a skilled operator, who evaluates the floor plan and uses it to calculate the control points location in which the measurement is performed. The computation is proposed to automate the audit by formulating an optimisation problem for which an algorithm was designed. The algorithm computes the solution that satisfies all constraints specified in the standard, for example, the minimum distance among the control points and fixed obstacles (walls or columns). In the proposed optimisation problem, the fitness function was designed based on the measurement purpose, and two typical use-cases were analysed: (i) long-term stationary noise measurement and (ii) recurring short-term noise measurement. Although the set of control points for both use cases complies with the given standard, it is beneficial to distinguish the location of control points based on the measurement purpose. The number of control points is maximised for the stationary noise and for the immediate coverage area for the short-term noise. The proposed algorithms were tested in a simulation for several floor plans of different complexity.

The acoustic noise level in the interior is one of the quantities specified by a standard and is subject to audits to ensure a comfortable living environment. Currently, the noise level audits are performed manually by a skilled operator, who estimates the floor plan and uses it to calculate the control points location in which the measurement is performed. We propose to automate the computation by formulating an optimization problem for which we designed an algorithm. Algorithm computes the solution that satisfies all constraints specified in the standard, for example, the minimum distance among the control points and fixed obstacles (walls or columns). In the proposed optimization problem, we designed the fitness function based on the measurement purpose, and we analysed two typical use-cases: (i) long-term stationary noise measurement and (ii) recurring short-term noise measurement. Although the set of control points for both use cases obeys the given standard, it is beneficial to distinguish the location of control points based on the measurement purpose. We maximize the number of control points for the stationary noise and maximize the immediate coverage area for the short-term noise. We tested the proposed algorithms in simulation for several floor plans of different complexity.

The distribution of indoor illuminance affects the health and the performance of humans, and is therefore subject to audits. Audits are performed after each modification of the light sources, and the currently adopted approach uses a human operator to perform measurements manually. This process is time-consuming, and we therefore aim to automate it with a mobile platform. In order to automate the process, we propose an online algorithm for selecting the control points. The algorithm is iterative, and it takes previous measurements into account in order to select the control points adaptively. We show how the proposed method can be combined with a mobile platform to perform the audit autonomously. Initially, the mobile platform, equipped with a laser range finder, is used to build the floor plan of the room. This floor plan is then used to restrict the area within which the control points can be selected. The whole measurement process is then executed without the presence or the intervention of a human operator, and this reduces the time needed for the audit. We have performed simulated and real experiments to demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach.

The subject of the Industrial Electronics and Sensors Laboratory has been designed to be focused on the practical part of the teaching. Here we describe its concept, used equipment and task examples. Experience gathered during subject first run is reported, including final students’ feedback.

A speech intelligibility test in realistic environments has been designed and performed deploying 51 subjects. A single set of speech samples distorted by various background noises and low bit-rate coding techniques has been used - without and with additional (parallel) psychomotor tasks. The addition of psychomotor tasks to the test simulates realistic environments. The differences in intelligibility test results between standard laboratory and parallel task test methodology were identified. Overall, the intelligibility of regular tests was mainly higher than for tests with a parallel task. Intelligibility results of certain samples have been found counterintuitive, which is possibly explained by a different mode of thinking under parallel task conditions.

This contribution presents a comparison between listening tests that were conducted in two different simulated listening situations: listening only in a stationary, parked car and listening while driving a (simulated) car. In both tests, identical signals and identical playback configurations were used leaving the situation as only variable in the test.

The goal of this report is to show the progress we achieved in the field of autonomous indoor light quantities measurement. The novelty of this project is to show the prototype of automated device for measurement of a light vector. At the beginning of the paper the theoretical analysis of quantity measurement is shown and what it is used for. It is followed by the state of the art of the measurement methodology. Next, the new measuring equipment’s design and its description are shown. The rest of the paper describes the edited algorithm for measurement process.

The goal of this report is to show the results we achieved in the field of autonomous indoor illuminance measurement. At the beginning of the paper the state of the art measurement methodology is shown. It is followed by the description of the robotic unit we designed for the purpose of automation of the measurement process. Moreover, the algorithm for measurement process is described in detail. The rest of the paper deals with possible improvements of the robotic platform mainly by adding new sensors and by adding the illuminance vector measurement unit.

Illuminance measurements in the mesh of control points is the most commonly used method for evaluation of parameters of interior lighting systems as national supervisory authorities (eg. The regional health stations) and private entities engaged in design activities in the field of lighting systems. Measurements can verify requirements for lighting systems of the Czech technical standards. The measurement of illuminance is still processed manually, ie. projecting a mesh of control points and then measuring the illuminance by illuminance meter in each of the control points. One of the ways to ensure a considerable acceleration of the lengthy process of illuminance measuring in the interior is the automation of the measurement process using robotic units, which would be able to project its own mesh of control points according to standards and at the same time ranging mesh of control points to measure illuminance in this mesh.

One of the basic methods of evaluating the quality of interior lighting systems is the measurement of the horizontal illuminance. It means a manual illuminance measuring in a uniform network of checkpoints. In practice, these measurings are often used to veryfy the lighting part of the projects or for the health stations. Such measurements are due to the large number of control points (measurement often takes place in multiple rooms of the reference object) time-consuming, taking their course in each control point repeats the same act. For this reason, it was in the context of inter-faculty study program Intelligent Building at CTU announced topic of the student project, whose aim is to describe the possibilities to automate this process to speed up the measurement.